Knowing every game in district play can be your last may have been weighing heavily on the shoulders of the Scotland County softball team when they opened up District 12 play October 8 in Unionville.

The fourth seeded Lady Tigers did battle with the fifth seeded Milan Wildcats in the opening game of the six-team tournament to see who would advance to play the #1 seed Knox County team in the semi-finals.

Milanís Jessica Taylor led off the game with a ringing triple into the right-centerfield gap to put the weight of the elimination game squarely on the shoulders of SCR-I. Taylor scored on a sacrifice fly to make the score 1-0.

The junior then took the mound for the Wildcats and quickly retired the first five batters she faced before getting into trouble in the bottom of the second inning.

With two outs Jessie Cotton beat out an infield single. Leftfielder Jacqui Drummond stepped in and delivered a triple over the leftfielderís head to plate Cotton. The junior scored on an RBI hit from Elizabeth Monroe who got the start at first base. That made the score 2-1 in favor of SCR-I.

SCR-I threatened again in the top of the third. Rebecca Consbrock walked and Brandi Mallett followed with a base hit before Becky Miller grounded into the double play to end the inning.

Ali Fromm gave her team some breathing room in the bottom of the fourth when she rounded the bases on a homerun over the centerfielderís head to make the score 3-1.

The team got another insurance run in the sixth frame when Cotton homered past the rightfielder to make the advantage 4-1.

Milan never really mounted a threat after the opening inning. Eggleston breezed through the Wildcats recording 10 strikeouts without walking a batter. She allowed just two hits in going the distance for the win.

Cotton and Monroe each had two hits in the game. Drummond, Fromm, Cotton and Monroe delivered the RBIís.